914 I'sm a Cicada, You'sre a Shell

Where did these two come from?

A coincidence? Or Ye Qiu’s schemes?

Xiao Shiqin was more willing to believe the latter, because this timing was just too serendipitous. These two barriers had suddenly appeared just at the most inconvenient time.

Of course, Xiao Shiqin wasn’t afraid of Lower Your Head and None Dare Attack, it was just that they had no time to waste on these two sockless characters. If it were any other normal players, Excellent Era’s players could easily break through them and leave them in the dust, but these two?

The two sides opened fire.

Four characters were all gunners, three Sharpshooters, one Mechanic. Their battle were a slew of flying bullets, almost like a shooter game. The two sides never closed in on each other, running as they shot at each other. Xiao Shiqin wanted to shake them off as soon as possible, fighting a battle of skills as he talked.

"We have six pairs of stockings here, and those two have eleven," Xiao Shiqin began bluntly, striking at the core of the argument. The distribution of stockings was like so: eleven were with Ye Xiu’s group, while Xiao Shqin and Wang Ze’s characters had six between them. Zhang Jiaxing’s Cleric had two and another normal player team had one. Six versus eleven. The difference in significance was obvious.

"But they’re always two people, while you guys are rarely two," Lower Your Head and None Dare Attack also replied with numbers.

The usual Excellent Era was a five man team. Lower Your Head and None Dare Attack didn’t dare to face them head on, so they wanted to take the chance to snatch these stockings first. Ye Qiu’s pair would always only be a pair, so it wouldn’t make a difference when they decided to face off.

Hearing this, Xiao Shiqin could be certain that this wasn’t a coincidence. They came to take advantage of Xiao Shiqin and Wang Ze’s lack of backup. Someone was definitely feeding them information, and this person was definitely Ye Qiu. This was because only they, being at the lead, could predict where they were going and could give an accurate report.

"We’ve fallen into one of his schemes!" Xiao Shiqin was depressed.

"What should we do?" Wang Ze asked.

"Don’t get surrounded, let’s fight as we run!" Xiao Shiqin turned his view to see a following of normal players in pursuit, and instantly felt even more helpless. Lower Your Head and None Dare Attack were onto them and the players in pursuit were, too. Ye Qiu was a cicada shedding its shell, and treated them like that shell*.

"Wang Ze and I have been blocked. We’re leaving Ye Qiu up to you guys," Xiao Shiqin informed the others helplessly in the party chat. After having several exchanges with Lower Your Head and None Dare Attack, Xiao Shiqin had a good understanding of their skill level. If they really wanted to break through their barricade, it wasn’t like they didn’t have a chance. However, if these two charged over, they wouldn’t be able to easily wipe out or shake them off. If they continued being pursued by these two and Ye Qiu decided to turn around to catch them in a tricky situation, then they probably wouldn’t survive. To be truthful, Xiao Shiqin believed that this was exactly what Ye Qiu was planning.

So, Xiao Shiqin suppressed his impulsive side, fighting and retreating alongside Wang Ze and decisively not pursuing Ye Qiu.

Ye Xiu had, of course, taken note of Xiao Shqin’s decision, and was a little disappointed. Xiao Shiqin’s guess was correct. Their ultimate goal was still to take the chance to steal stockings. Just as the last pieces were falling into place, Xiao Shqin didn’t fall for it. Ye Xiu was disappointed, but this was Xiao Shiqin. If it were Sun Xiang, then he probably had long since charged forth and gotten pincered by the four.

Xiao Shiqin’s pair didn’t actively chase after them and Ye Xiu and Steamed Bun didn’t go back for them either. This was because there were still other players over there and if they returned, everyone’s attention would swap over to them, the characters with eleven pairs of stockings. So they could only watch and wait.

Sun Xiang and Shen Jian had gotten to the places Xiao Shiqin had given them in accordance with his calculations. They looked around their prepared areas, but never saws Ye Xiu’s pair.

"They don’t seem to be on this path," Shen Jian reported.

"They haven’t come here, either," Sun Xiang added.

This guy!

Xiao Shiqin felt cold sweat beading on his head again, making a quick 360 degree turn to have a quick look at his surroundings.

Ye Qiu hadn’t retreated along his calculated paths. Was it because there weren’t any more pursuers so they didn’t need to use the same path, or was it because these two had already turned back and were lying in wait for a chance to strike?

Considering Ye Xiu’s bold and gutsy personality, Xiao Shiqin guessed that it was the latter. He probably wanted to snatch benefits from their tricky situation and see if there was a chance to steal the stockings….

"Gather here!" Xiao Shiqin hurriedly told the others. They couldn’t continue on like this. They needed to gather their forces again.

"Be careful, Ye Qiu might be nearby," Xiao Shiqin warned Wang Ze.

Gunshots thundered.

The battle between Xiao Shiqin and Lower Your Head’s pairs was still going on strong. The two sides fired even as they continued to move at a high pace. At first, Xiao Shqin’s pathing and movement was used to shake off some of their pursuers. However, needing to be careful of Ye Qiu, they could use these players to their advantage, so Xiao Shiqin wasn’t impatient to shake them off, but let them hang around.

"As expected, this guy is a tricky opponent!" Ye Xiu, who really was lying in wait nearby, saw through Xiao Shiqin’s plan, but had no way of dealing with it. In a situation where each side understood what situation the other feared, they could only watch and wait for an opportunity to strike. There was no other solution.

By this time, Zhang Jiaxing had long since thrown down a stocking and ended the 120 second countdown. This was all part of Xiao Shiqin’s orders. He quickly headed back over.

Lower Your Head and None Dare Attack, who had always been outstanding, experienced the strength of pro players again, not long after their beating at Ye Xiu’s hands in the last round.

Xiao Shqin and Wang Ze didn’t have any trouble keeping up with the sisters even with the harassment of the many normal players. Eventually, Excellent Era’s players Sun Xiang, Shen Jian, and Zhang Jiaxing arrived one by one. Among them, Sun Xiang was the most vicious. His charge over had knocked down multiple normal players. When he got closer to Lower Your Head and None Dare Attack, he had even less hesitation.

The strength of Excellent Era’s party, having gathered, multiplied instantly. With a few rounds of vicious offense, the normal players started dropping like flies. Their number advantage seemed nonexistent. If this continued, they would be wiped out.

If it wasn’t for the fact that barefooted people didn’t fear wearing shoes*, the players would’ve dispersed a long time ago. Despite this, many people got bored of this meaningless task after a while of being beat.

They couldn’t be bothered to continue, but they couldn’t be bothered to leave either, so they all became spectators. In the end, the only people who were still fighting were Lower Your Head and None Dare Attack.

These two girls didn’t dare to face the five members of Excellent Era on their own, so they had resorted to following and hiding. Now, in this situation, they didn’t really want to continue and began to break away.

Excellent Era couldn’t be arsed to continue engaging the two either. It was only Sun Xiang who took a few steps in pursuit, but that was when a system announcement popped up: Player Listened Promise has collected the 10th Christmas Stocking.

"F*ck!" Zhang Jiaxing almost spat blood.

After dropping the stocking, he had hurried over. Yet it wasn’t long before someone came to collect it and, how coincidental, it was Ye Qiu.

Seeing the 120 second countdown start up again, Xiao Shiqin realized something and was immediately frustrated enough to slap his own forehead.

"I was careless! Again," Xiao Shiqin lamented.

"What?" the others weren’t as quick to understand.

"Ye Qiu and the others were nearby, so they saw you coming back," Xiao Shiqin directed his words at Zhang Jiaxing.

"Ah?" Zhang Jiaxing was stunned, seeming to have realized something, but not completely.

"With a clear understanding of which direction you came from, and then combining that with the timing of when you dropping the stocking, they can calculate where you dropped it." Xiao Shiqin said.

"F*ck!" Zhang Jiaxing really did look like he was about to cough blood this time, his entire face had gone red.

"Quickly, drop another stocking," Sun Xiang said. He wasn’t at all satisfied with their current score, especially after realizing that they were up against Ye Qiu this round. He didn’t want to lose, not at all.

There were still players watching them from the sidelines. Though they didn’t come to bother them anymore, they couldn’t throw the stocking here. Excellent Era’s party quickly left. 120 seconds wasn’t very long, but not very short either, so the group moved quickly, shaking off normal players even more quickly, but they soon realized that they had two unshakeable tails.

Lower Your Head, None Dare Attack.

"These two, we should’ve dealt with them just now!" Sun Xiang said in anger. This time he was very on point. Excellent Era really shouldn’t have let them go just like that. However, if they wanted to settle this now, they wouldn’t have enough time. If they really wanted to deal with them, they would have to throw away a stocking to stop the countdown. Even so, these two were Sharpshooters and didn’t need to close in to fight. It would be easier for them to run. It was easier to run away and these two weren’t bad tactically. If they ended up splitting up, that wouldn’t be good.

"You two, I’m sure you understand the current situation," rules were dead, but people weren’t. Under the situation in which they couldn’t change the rules, they could only talk it out. The two sides were ten body units apart, yelling to be heard. Xiao Shiqn began to discuss things loudly with the two. "If we don’t throw down a sock this time around, this round will end quickly, but your current actions make me doubt that you’ll let us!"

"If we don’t, are you willing to accept defeat?" Lower Your Head yelled back, voice clear and crisp. Just from the voice, it seemed like this was a pretty lady.

"We, at least, still have seven pairs, but you have none. I doubt you’ll be willing to accept that, right?" Xiao Shiqin asked.